Journaling for History's Sake

I have kept a journal or diary pretty much since I learned to write. I have had the ones you could only open with the little key, travel journals, journals to write about my favorite books or wines or memories. There is a box somewhere in my storage unit with a pile of journals, banded together, with a note on them that says "Read at your own risk." Hey, if you want to read my journals don't be surprised by what you find. I know that is always the fear of keeping journals. A notebook with your deepest, darkest secrets being discovered can feel horrifying.

Or is it?

Lately I have been listening to radio stories about journaling during catastrophes, such as the Coronavirus pandemic we are experiencing right now. I was reminded of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and other journals and diaries that were published throughout history (here is a link to some others: History's Greatest Diaries). We read them in school, we learn history from them, and they teach us how to write in a steam of conscious way. After people are long gone, journals and diaries are a way of preserving the memory that they were once here.

I continue to have a pile of journals ready to be banded together and added to the box with the "Read at your own risk" sign taped to them. And I recently began a poetry journal, as the pandemic has inspired me to uncover my emotions and experiences through this type of art. My hope is that I can revisit these journals to see how I evolved and changed through the ups and downs of life, and after I am long gone they may be read as a little bit of history.

If you haven't given journaling a try, here are some easy tips and tricks in case you would like to!

• Journals can be anything. A notebook, a sketchbook, one of those expensive leather bound ones. The key is the ease of which you can write in it. Does it have a flexible binding? Do you like to write within lines or are you okay with a blank page? Can it easily fit into your bag so you can bring it with you throughout your day?
• Journals don't have to be pages upon pages of writing. You can keep your entries short, you can draw pictures, or you can do "timed writing" where you set a timer for 3-5 minutes and just...write.
• If you find yourself with writer's block, there are a lot of websites out there to help you with journal prompts. Do you want to write about work, personal life, your dreams? Here is a website with some go-to prompts to get you started! Journaling Ideas

However you document your life...through a journal, diary, artwork, photos, Instagram/social media, writing a memoir...you are contributing to history in the making through your own eyes and experiences!